Macey Scholar Ahmed Hussien

SOCORRO, N.M. May 10, 2011 -- A graduate of Los Lunas High School, Ahmed Hussien has been active in a variety of academic and extracurricular activities since coming to New Mexico Tech.

In addition to maintaining a 3.87 GPA, Hussien has competed successfully in a national Geo-Institute conference, in a competition called GeoPrediction, finishing second in 2010. He also was a leader of the Civil Engineering Department’s steel bridge team that competed at regionals in 2010.

Ahmed HussienMacey Scholar 2011-2012

He worked as a residential assistant for one semester before being asked to serve as the senior residential assistant for three dorms, which later grew to five dorms. That service lead to Hussien being asked to serve as the sole student on the architectural committee that judged the 12 firms that bid to construct the new dorm.

“There was a lot of pressure to pick the right company,” Hussien said. “That showed me how the process works. It was exciting.”

He has also been involved in Tau Beta Pi and its community service projects. Through Res Life, he has helped plan 49ers, Spring Fling and the President’s Dance.

“I feel that helping the community is an integral component to improving New Mexico Tech,” he said.

Two faculty members and one staff member nominated Hussien for the Macey Scholars award.

Dr. Mehrdad Ravazi, assistant professor of mineral engineering, wrote that Hussien is an exceptional student academically and a dedicated person.

“His excellent performance is the direct result of his hard work and strong focus,” Ravazi wrote. “Ahmed is a pleasant and responsible person who takes his professional work very seriously.”

Dr. Claudia Wilson praised Hussien for his leadership in the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and that he has played an integral part in the success of the chapter.

Hussien said that through ASCE he hopes to show that New Mexico Tech has a strong program in civil engineering and that the field is both difficult and fun.

Mitchell Tappen, Director of Residential Life, said Hussien has proved himself to be a valuable asset to his team.

“Though technically I supervise Ahmed, he has done such an outstanding job as a residential assistant that he leaves me little to oversee,” Tappen wrote. “I have the utmost faith Ahmed can handle any situation to the point I no longer have need to give him direction.”

Hussien didn’t choose civil engineering immediately. “I started taking classes and really liked it,” he said. “We solve real problems. I hopefully will be building structures that last longer than I do.”

Hussien wants to pursue a master’s and a PhD, but might choose to start his career first. His career goal is to design and engineer buildings in areas with high seismic risk.

“Tech has given me all the basics for what I’ll build upon,” he said. “Most importantly, Tech has made me grown as a person. Tech has showed me a lot about human nature and gave me a better idea of managing people and being a leader – which is far more important than just the math.”